The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, says President Bola Tinubu forged his academic certificate.

Atiku, a former Vice President, stated that Tinubu was not qualified to contest the February 25 presidential election.

He said this at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, October 30, in reaction to the Supreme Court judgement which affirmed Tinubu’s victory in the presidential poll.

The PDP presidential standard-bearer said Tinubu was not qualified to contest the election because he forged his certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Atiku said: “In response to the official backlash against me, I instituted several cases in the courts, which led to seven landmark decisions that helped to deepen our democracy and rule of law.

“At the current historic moment, the easier option for me would have been to fold up and retreat after the mandate banditry perpetrated by the APC and INEC.

“But I went to the Nigerian courts to seek redress. I even went to an American court to help with unravelling what our state institutions charged with such responsibilities were unwilling or unable to do, including unravelling the qualifying academic records of the person sworn in as our President and by implication, hopefully who he really is.

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“I offered that evidence procured with the assistance of the American Court to our Supreme Court to help it to do justice in this case. I give this background to underscore that what we are currently dealing with is bigger than one or two presidential elections and is certainly bigger than Atiku Abubakar.

“It is not about me; it is about our country, Nigeria. It is about the kind of society we want to leave for the next generation and what kind of example we want to set for our children and their children.

“It is about the reputation of Nigeria and Nigerians in the eyes of the world. We showed incontrovertible evidence that Bola A. Tinubu was not qualified to contest the Presidential Election because he forged the qualifying academic certificate, which he submitted to INEC.

“In fact, a simple check of Tinubu’s past records in its possession would have shown INEC that Tinubu broke the law and should not have been allowed to contest the election.

“We showed irrefutable evidence of gross irregularities, violence, and manipulations during the elections.

“We showed incontrovertible evidence that INEC violated the Electoral Act and deliberately sabotaged its own publicly announced processes and procedures in order to illegally declare Tinubu elected.”

The Star